Is Walter Isaacson Right About Google?

A few months ago, I argued that Nest would be the perfect match for Apple. After all, Nest CEO Tony Fadell was one of the architects of the original iPod, and Nest's first two products, while seemingly unsexy and mundane to anyone outside of the tech world, did something very few working outside One Infinite Loop have donetook a utility that has been historically dumb and ugly and made it into a smart and beautiful-looking piece of technology.

And while most of us aren't banging down the virtual doors to buy a connected smoke detector and thermostat, Nest, like Apple before it, reinvented something stale, and likely created a blueprint for countless competitors to copy for years to come. But did you really think Nest was going to go forward without getting picked up by a giant technology company? I didn't, and I bet the farm it would be Apple, which could use Nest as a foundation to lead the way in the Internet of Things-powered wet dream, otherwise known as home automation.

So much for predictions. Apple may very well enter the home automation market, but it won't be with Nest. Google saw to that, paying an insanely huge $3.2 billion for the company. That announcement was quickly followed by a proclamation that sent techies into a tizzy. Walter Isaacson, who penned the biography of the late Steve Jobs, stated quite boldly that "the greatest innovation in the world today is coming from Google."

In an instant, Apple fanboys felt the sting of a proverbial knife in their back. But what may hurt even more is the realization that Isaacson may be right. I guess it all comes down to what you define as innovation. Much of the reaction to Isaacson's statement was centered on the idea that Google's recent "innovations" are not anything that has a reasonable application out in the real world, or at least not yet. Sure, you'll see the occasional driverless car careening down the street somewhere in Northern California, or a gaggle of glassholes at SXSW next month. However, I can't go to a car dealership and buy a self-driving Google Prius, or to Best Buy to pick up Google Glass.

Apple offers innovation I can spend my hard-earned dollars on today, whether it's a Retina display Jesus phone or a razor-thin laptop. Google can live in its perpetually beta existence. I am living in the here and now, baby. Or at least that's what your average Apple disciple would say to the notion that Google is now the defacto trailblazer in the tech industry, while Apple just makes phones and tablets.

So is Walter Isaacson right? Yes. Or no. It depends how you define innovation. If you think innovation is throwing things against the wall to see if they stick, then Google is considerably more innovative than Apple. In the past year, the company has created the first major mass market wearable computer. Some may think Glass is already doomed, but when was the last time you listened to Robert Scoble? 2007? In addition to launching a wearable technology war, Google also declared a war on aging with the launch of Calico. And its trifecta came with the acquisition of Nest, which may now be in an even better position to completely transform how we interact with technology in our homes.

Apple on the other hand is a completely different cultural animal, one that plans and iterates a product 100 times before you even know it's working on it. To Cupertino, moonshots are not for public consumption. They're things that are molded among product, design, and engineering teams for however long it takes for the red curtain to be opened, unveiling what it considers to be the best thing ever made. And usually what it unveils are things of beauty.

However, as far as I'm concerned, there is no answer to the question of who is more innovative, because innovation is not an objective concept, and certainly not as black and white as most techies and folks like Walter Isaacson may perceive it to be. While I may never buy Google Glass or have my DNA sequenced, I applaud the sheer act of pushing envelopes. And that's my definition of innovation, whether the end result is a gadget I can buy, or a scientific initiative that may help the human race in the next 10 years.

So let's stop focusing on who is doing what. Let's also strip ourselves of the fanboy sentimentality and Big Brother paranoia that often clouds the fact that while there may be perceived innovation lulls from the tech speculators, Apple and Google are pushing envelopes, and that's a good thing.

Seamus is a veteran social media and marketing pro who was the first voice of @Mediabistro, one of the first NYC media brands on Twitter. He's also worked at organizations including Hearst and ReadWriteWeb. He loves technology but prides himself on being a heretic and wishes there were more of them. He probably has no interest in being on your panel about how social media is changing blah blah blah, or your app that lets you "connect and share with friends." You can find him...
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